When it comes to today’s consumer digitally accessing information about key topics of interest, long gone are the days of standard websites being the default and largely only option. While websites remain very popular, adults in Ireland today are turning in large numbers to a plethora of other sources in order to get information about what they are most interested in.
From news, to sports, to travel, to jobs, internet users are exploiting everything from blogs, to podcasts, to RSS feeds and online video. The challenge for today’s marketer is to understand amidst such digital fragmentation, which mix of digital sources is most popular with their own target consumers.
If we take a look at that most perennially addictive of topics – the news – latest findings from Kantar Media’s TGI consumer data in the Republic of Ireland reveal that when it comes to sourcing information on news/editorial content, 38% of internet-using adults claim to turn to websites, 11% use mobile apps and 8% exploit email or text alerts, with the same proportion looking at Twitter feeds. Clearly websites are still the most popular option for news by some distance, but as adoption of new tech continues to evolve, the landscape may change considerably in the years to come.
Indeed, while websites remain the preferred means of accessing information about a range of topics, beyond websites there are some significant fluctuations in adoption of digital sources, depending on what it is people are seeking information about.
For example, when it comes to arts and entertainment, after websites, the most popular news source is online video and audio streams, leveraged by 8% of internet using adults. Conversely, when it comes to home and garden as an area of interest, video and audio streams finds itself fifth on the list of digital sources, behind the likes of mobile apps, blogs and email/text alerts.
If your suspicion is that age plays its part in which digital sources are most popular, you would be correct. If we go back to news, the TGI consumer data reveals that 35-44 year olds are 20% more likely than the average internet user to access websites for their news. On the other hand, 15-24 year olds are 41% more likely to access online video/audio streams and 21% more likely to leverage podcasts for their news. Indeed, an examination of how younger adults access areas of interest digitally may represent a key pointer to the future evolution of use of digital information sources.
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